Sunday, March 2, 2014

Caretaker

Hitler never read John Maynard Keynes. But the terrible Nazi leader saved Germany from world economic depression in the 1930's. His steps were similar to the steps offered by British economists to address the state of paralysis. And Germany, it turned out, was not affected by paralysis. Since 1933, after he came to power, Hitler borrowed money, and spent it. The amount was unsparing. He built railroads, canals, public buildings, Autobahnen. He thus creating the jobs. Towards 1935, the unemployment practically ended in Germany.

Hitler, a man who believed that he -- and "he" here could mean the state -- should lead, appeared to the stage and created a government that actively regulated the economy. Towards 1936, when the incomes rose and the prices tended to rise and the wages began to rise, he said, "Stop it". The sale and purchase of foreign currency was controlled. Use of imported goods sought was limited. Germany, with it all, emerged as a unique achievement for the malaise era in 30's: no one was unemployed, and prices were stable.

But Hitler has made many people feel daunted. His reign, with the same spirit as when he set up the economy, also set the life of each person. In the 1930's, the living was so desperate and the atmosphere was so gloomy. Hope was replaced by anger.

The period is the time of disappointment to democracy. In Italy, a social scientist, Mario Palmieri writing aloud, "Democracy is a form of bitch socio-political organization. The crowd created to be led, and not to lead, and ultimately created to be slaves, and not to become the master."

Fascism was born of such a view. For Mussolini, his Fascism is an affirmation that human beings are not created equal, and equal suffrage will not change reality. Inequality is actually good. There is a leader (in this case is the state) and those who are led, and they are the people.

From the top of his balcony in Rome, with a black dress and sound fanatical, Mussolini shouted, "The state is not only the present, but also the past and, above all, it is the future". Beyond the short track the lives of individuals, the state stands as the deepest inner voice of a nation.

Unfortunately -- if that word may be used here -- Mussolini, and Hitler, did not last long. They had fallen before we all witnessed how a society could constantly occupied with such a concept. It would be interesting to know, how people of Italy or Germany could survive with the idea that the state was "the deepest inner voice of the nation".

For those who live after Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin fell, such a state is a myth. In the end, the state is also people with their short lives. In the end, the state -- as the arrangement of the apparatus that takes care of common life -- has its limits as well. It will not be able to absolutely dominate human to get inti their inner voice. It even sometimes incompetent to take care of the "little things", such as health, trade and traffic.

Fortunately, I have a sweet partner. He -- though not with a very firm voice -- can look and say, "Do not give unlimited power to the state."

Indeed, my partner is not the one who comes up with the independence idea a la Milton Friedman. I'm also guessing whether he is -- in a certain sense -- also a "Keynesian". But it was interesting that he -- in our casual chat yesterday -- used the term "Caretaker State". The term "Caretaker" is more comfortable for me than the term "Government". Especially if I recall the roots of his words, and especially for a period that has witnessed many bitter experiences in terms of power, at the end of the 20th century. Because it means we are "taken care of", and not "being governed".
***

CZ

"Thank you for your perception! I like your romantic side, even if I do not always comment and I'm glad that you're in my circle of friends."(Courtesies by: Wolfgang A. Gerhardt)

Wolfgang A.Gerhardt : May be you like this Sunday collage

Cisca Zarmansyah : Before today, there never was a person doing this to me. You create a simple matter to look special. This is a special thing for me.

Cisca Zarmansyah : Thank you. I love it. I love you, my friend. ♥

CieL- FreYa Ceastle : Hmm, he's so nice...

"I am me.
In all the world,
there is no one else exactly like me.
Everything that comes out of me
is authentically mine,
because I alone chose it --
I own everything about me:
my body,
my feelings,
my mouth,
my voice,
all my actions,
whether they be to others or myself.
I own my fantasies,
my dreams,
my hopes,
my fears.
I own my triumphs and successes,
all my failures and mistakes.
Because I own all of me,
I can become intimately acquainted with me.
By so doing,
I can love me
and be friendly with all my parts.
I know there are aspects about myself that puzzle me,
and other aspects that I do not know
-- but as long as I am friendly
and loving to myself,
I can courageously and hopefully
look for solutions
to the puzzles and ways
to find out more about me.
However I look and sound,
whatever I say and do,
and whatever I think and feel at a given moment in time
is authentically me.
If later some parts of how I looked,
sounded,
thought,
and felt
turn out to be unfitting,
I can discard that which is unfitting,
keep the rest,
and invent something new
for that which I discarded.
I can see,
hear,
feel,
think,
say, and do.
I have the tools to survive,
to be close to others,
to be productive,
and to make sense
and order out of the world of people
and things outside of me.
I own me,
and therefore,
I can engineer me.
I am me,
and I am okay."

VIRGINIA SATIR
(American Phychologist and Educator, 1916-1988)

About Me

"When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent. I was not a communist. When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent. I was not a social democrat. When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out. I was not a trade unionist. When they came for the Jews, I remained silent. I wasn't a Jew. When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out." - Martin Niemöller